At the Crease A GREAT SIDE

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 16, 19 January 1924, Page 19

At the Crease

A GREAT SIDE

N.S.W. TEAM FOR NEW ZEALAND

BRILLIANT ' CRICKET EXPECTED.

SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP. Outright Ist.in. . Cli.

REPRESENTATIVE FIXTURES. January 18, 19, unu 21—Wellington iv. Otago, . at Dunedin. , February is, », 11—Wellington v. New South Wales, at Wellington. February is, 13—New South. Wales, v. South Canterbury, at Ashburtou. ->k February 15, 10, -18—Now South Wales v. Otago, at Dunedin. February la, 20—Sew. South Wales v. North Otago. at Oamaru. February 22, 23, 25—New South Wales v. Canterbury, at Christchurch. February 2'l. 27—New South Wales" v. South : Canterbury, at Timaru. - 5. • . February 21), March 1, 3—New SouthrWales v. . . New Zealand (First Test), at Christchurch. .Mirch 7, 8, 10—New South Wales v. New '..' Zealand (Second Test), at Wellington March 12, is—New South Wales v. North Taranaki, at New Plymouth. V .

(By ■' Not Out.")

'The best cricket news that New Zealand has received' for a long time was the. announcement by cable this week oHhe. personnel of the New South Wales team which is' to tsur New Zealand.' Although the New Zealand Council had intimated that it did riot wish to have the best team, thinking- that it would be far too~-great a proposition for the Dominion's teams, tne side chosen to make the trip is practically the best that New South Wales can put in the field. For that there will be no regrets, even if it may account for many hours of strenuous fielding for those players who are chosen in the teams which will meet the visitors. With C. G. Macartney (captain), W. Bardsley, T. J. E. An"drews, A. F. Kippax, A. Mailey, W. A. Oldfield; H. L. Hendry, B, JBardsley, A. Punch, D. Mullarkey, A.. Eatcliffe, and 8. Everett as the members of the team there can be no doubt that the visitors will supply a feast of good cricket. There was little need for mention in the cable that the side is especially strong in tatting. ' Most of the names are well-known in. the cricket world, and with them has always been associated the delightful, sporting cricket. Reports from Australia this season have contained many glowing accounts of batting , performances of members of the team; those relating to the Sheffield match, New South Wales v. South Australia, this week, having items that,'although . brief, were quite good enough to indicate that New Zealand is going to see cricket at its best. They had reference to excellent bowling and fielding a; -well as batting. Far from causing interest to wane, the strength\ of the New South Wales team will 'create ■greater enthusiasm than if the selection had been made in accordance with the wishes of the New Zealand Council. And, as far as the Dominion's players are concerned, it will no doubt cause them; ty do all: that'is possible to lower the colours of the visitors, for success, 'if it is possible, will ca-vry all tMe more honours against, a team so formidable as that which is leaving Sydney on the 2nd February.. Macartney, W.. Bardsley, Mailey, Andrews, Oldfield, Handry, Kippax, and Ratcliffe require no letters oi introduction; they are men of high rank and well known in the cricket world. Kippax and Hatcliffe were here with the last Australian team under tire captaincy of Verhoh B,ansfdrd, and since then both have' shown splendid form. Kippax in particular has made a name for _ himself, and the sparkling display which he gave in the recent.New South Wales-South Australia match was one'of the best that has been seen in Sheffield Shield cricket. 'His score of 248, which is the second highest for New South Wales in Shield matches, was compiled by Ehots which were said to be reminiscent of Trumper. Mailey', it was also reported, bawled his. best of the season, while W. Bardsley struck his old form. At the end of the first series of club matches most of the members of tho team for New Zealand were high up in the list of averages. The positions were:— . . : . Batting. '. . . " . v.

' - ' *Not out. Bowling.

All ,th e chosen,players have (lobe-well' ia representative • matches this sedson. /Eight of them were included in the' team -which defeated ■ South Australia this -week, and D. Mullarkey was the twelfth man. Macartney was not available. Tlie ' younger members of the team, as far as representative cricket is concerned, ire It. Bardsley, Punch, Mullarkey, and Everett,- and they have lieen playing brilliantly against South Australia, Punch's cutting .arid driving shots were made with, terrific force. Notes, regarding the fine performances of R. Bardsley and Mullarkey'have been published. Everett is perhaps the least known of the members of the team, but he is likely to be well remembered after the tour is over. He is not new to Sheffield Shield cricket, having . first played for his State'in the 1921-22 season. A right-hand bowler with a high' action and great pace off the pitch, he can swing a new ball well. Punch is regarded as a brilliant all-rounder He bowls a slow leg-break, and in addition to great ability with the bat and ball he is a really brilliant field. There is no question about good cricket beinz in store for New Zealand next" month. SENIOR COMPETITION. Four-point wins by the two suburban teams, Hutt and Petone, did not ma.terially affect Midland's position at the head of the championship ladder, although an indication was given by the results of the various matches tliat the leader's claim for the: premiership may be''seriously challenged as the competition proceeds. Last Saturday's games were mainly notable on account of excellent bowling performances, although there was hot an entire lack of exhibitions of prowess with the bat. Pinla'yson's performance against the Thcrndon batsmen was a remarkable onei and it was on him that the credit of Petone's decisive win over the city team mainly Tested. In both of. Thorndon's innings he bowled with great consistency, and constantly had the. batsmen in serious difficulties. He finished tip with figures that read remarkably well, and earned the right to' be considered one of the best trundlers in Wellington at the present time. It is unfortunate that this ■fine player is ifflable to'fill a place in - tlie .Wellington representative '' team,, j

where his services would bVhsei'ul to a degree.

\L. Beard,, the Hiitt bowler, also bowl- j cd' well on Saturday, ai;d together with his captain, "H. M. M'Girr, he. succeeded. in disposing of the" V.M.C.A. side very cheaply in the second innings, thus enabling Hyttt to obtain a win by Eeven wickets. ," Another pleasing feature of the match was the performance of Hi R. White,' of the .V.M.C.A. eleven. His bowling was pi' the first-class order, and went to show that the sole selector of the Wellington team made no mistake in entrusting him with portion of tha responsibility of getting rid of Otago batsmen. " White J3 a bowler who can keep a good length, and, keep the best of batsmen quiet. In addition, he ia ' a useful batsman, a fact that he demonstrated- last Saturday by putting together 21 runs when the rest of the sidn I failed.. There was a'pleasing element! of uncertainty about the match between ! Midland .and Wellington at the Basin j Reserve, 'and Midland, who were in a! strong position on the first innings play, j hud to content themselves with a three point victory, which indeed, went very near to being turned into a four-point defeat. In their second innings Weilwgton made a recovery with, the bat, j and made ( their highest score of the season. A particularly pleasing feature I of the innings was the score oj 72 compiled by the veteran Wellington cricketer, C. Gi Wilson, who gave a display sufficiently good to indicate that his playing days are by no means over, j •lather" Wilson has left the days''of his youth a long way back, but he has not forgotten .how to use a bat. His •innings on Saturday was not altogether without its chances, but it was nevertheless a very meritorious one, and liof. altogether lacking in sparkle. Two of his strokes sent the leather flying over the boundary, for six. C. G. had the support of some good batsmen, not the least being Ivory, a promoted junior, who gave-a promising display of batting! Ivory showed that he is the possessor of good scoring shots, and, if given the Chance, should do well in senior cricket. Wellington were in such a position as to ■be able to declare their innings closed at a quarter to six, giving Midland the task of getting almost 120 runs ia ; an; hour in order to gain a four-point : victory. ■ Midland started off well in au attempt to get the required total, and their prospects looked decidedly bright until Wilson decided to give Good the leather. Then the wickets began to fall with astonishing rapidity, and wjien the time for drawing stumps had arrived six Midlanders had been dismissed for a total of 70 runs. It was an_ exciting finish, ,-and was thoroughly enjoyed by spectators who stayed to see the bitter end. The bat triumphed over the leather at Kelburn Park, and m a high scoring mutch between Old Boys and Institute, the advantage went to the former on the first innings. V. I,- Collins played another very -fine '-""'"FA. glv.'"S a forceful display all round the wicket. Ronaldson also came to light with the bat, and gave a very ■finished performance. ENGLAND'S COMING EVENTS > 1 .T!r*. B°f ? °f Control at Lords has hxed the dates and grounds for the test matches' with the South Africans this year. Ihe list 13 as follows, the start in all cases being on a Saturday •— ' I'irst test: 14th, 16th, Trth June/at Birmingham. ' Second test: 28th, 30th June, Ist July, at Lords. '■■•.' »■ ; - Third test: 12th, 14th, 15th July, at Leeds. Fourth test: 26th, 28th, 29th July; at Man'cttesterJ >■••"■•■ -.. ■::ij y" ■ Fifth test: 16th, 18th, 19th August, at the Oval. -, Ail are three-day matches, but in the event of the rubber depending upon it, the last match will bo played to a finish. ' '•-..■ Discussing the outlook for next season .with its matches against South/Africa and the subsequent tour of an English team in quest of the ashes, now held by Australia, A. C. KacLaren expresses tlie opinion that the best eleven is to be found in England to-day. "If we will only play sound cricket, and take more trouble over our fielding, catching, and throwing," he« states, "we should beat South Africa and Australia in'our own country without fail., Today Australia is limiting herself to one style of:wicket, the hard and fast one, which is making the task of finding bowlers, an extremely difficult one,; to say nothing of encouraging all their promising batsmen to play that sure and careful gamo which, successful on the true wicket, ■is the reverse on' the difficult turning wicket we often experience in this country. Australia has produced so much happiness for me in the past that I could not refrain from giving expression to my alarm to the leading players in New South Wales and elsewhere, rather. than keep to myself the certain knowledge of disasters which must await them in a wet season in England. Now, there was.not:one with whom I spoke who defended the covering of the... wicket in the inter-State games, and who did not realise that they would most assuredly pay in the I future for the methods employed with a view to big gates. It is. a pity from a cricket point of view, and I hope that some modifications will be made in the future in regard to this wicket covering. There is less hitting in Australia than used to be the case, so far as I could judge, which is only to be expected when rain is never allowed to hit tho wicket." "Whoever is to ,captain England in Australia must captain England against South " Africa here . next summer," writes Sir Home Gordon, Bart., in "The Cricketer." He suggests that A. E. B. Gilligan, of Sussex, would be excellent ill every way as skipper of the team, though he may be the very last man to desire the position. It was not long ago that Hobbs said: "The captain under whom we would win Test matches wouldbe Gilligan." With A. C. MacLareu the writer agrees that G-. E. C. Wood would prove himself an admirable captain, working in close collaboration with Gilligan. Yet another name is put forward, that of John Daniell, who '.'as captain would be superb." It is considered by Sir Home Gordon that the next great aid towards victory would be to get C. G. Gibson back from Argentina with a view to making tlie trip to Australia. Gibson is regarded as an even better bowler than he was when he visited New Zealand with Mac- I Laren's team, and MacLaren is of opinion that to-day Gibson with the ball has few superiors in the world. Among others who are looked upon as worthy of inclusion in the team for Australia are J. F. Mac Lean and A. P. F. Chapman, Who were also members of MacLaren's team. The South African team for England was recently announced by cable and one of the members of the team "was given as "Pam."- A young resident of Brooklyn, ' who is evidently a • keen follower' of i cricket, was quick to observe that a mistake had been made. In a letter to-.his parent he says: "I notice by "The Evening Post" that the names of the South African team to. visit " England are .cabled. One'of this number' will never leave Capetown. ■It is Pani. Hands, of Western . Province,' owns xXw initials of I.A.M. You will be able. to check my stateemiit from a paper' 1. left under by. pillow^ J hope my school chum who spent his Christmas behind a fence on tlie hill has returned to his home. Kind regards to Hotnewood road." The Auckland-Wellington match,, it will be 'remembered .was placed on

the Wellington College ground at Christmas time. The school chum referred to ii| the letter must have disposed of all his pocket money on Christmas Eve. OTAGO'S NORTHERN TOVlt Members of the Otago team which recently made' the northern iour expressed the opinion on their'return to Dunedin that the trip was a fine one and that it should lie beneficial to cricket in Otago. Dealing with the Otago-Auckland match, "Slip" ("Otago Daily Times") says:—"Auckland certainly beat us comfortably-, but our team fought every inch oi the way, and although, defeated 'it was not disgraced. The winning of the toss meant much to Auckland, and everything to Otago. As it happened, Shepherd lost the option of choice of inninps, and this factor alone discounted Otago's chances from the outset. Auckland inade> the best use of first strike on the good wicket provided, occupying the wickets practically the whole of the opening day for the tidy .total of 330 runs. The Otago bowlers, of which only four wero tried in-the .first innings, stuck to their task valiantly. It is no fault of theirs that victory did not rest with us. Our batting, particularly the first knock, was anything but consistent. Worker stood out alono. with a brilliantly compiled 93, this display giving further proof of his exceptional abilities. He is certainly among the first flight of New Zealand batsmen this season. Shepherd got 43 smartly, but foolishly throw hi s wicket away by jumping out to a short one from tho wily Smith, with the result that he was stumped. This is all very -well in club cricket, and one would imagine that a batsman of Shepherd's calibre would . have recognised the importance of the occasion and adopted much safer tactics. His wicket is too good to sacrifice in this manner in Plunket Shield contests. Douglas justified his inclusion iff-the team, and is to be complimented on his signal success. By securing eight wickets for 169 runs, he did his share of the attack, and incidentally tops the bowling average for the tour. A bowler of Douglas's type requires all the assistance possible from his field, and in this respect he was not neglected, for the fielding of the'Otago'team reached a very high standard. Certainly one ■or two chances were missed, but then, ■what team will not give away something? In the fielding department, H. C. Alloo deserves credit for his work in this match, the way in which he raced round the boundary cutting off fours being an eye-opener and a treat to witness. • Worker and Shepherd are also singled out for their clean picking up and returning." • - SENIOR AVERAGES. J. Hutchinge is iiowat the head of the list of senior batting averages, and is closely followed by H. -Murphy. Both those players have averages of over 60. Ihe third place is filled by B J Kortt\'r ' ™hose. average! is 20 below that of .H.'Murphy. F. Joplin, per medium ot two more- "not out" scores.one of them just short of the century,- has made a bitti advance on the list, and now fills fourth place. In the bowline department^ X H. Tucker, A. Finlayson, and W. Hitchcock are almost equal at the top of the list of averages, but Tucker and Hitchcock has done litle bowling while Finlayson has taken 30 wickets. L. Beard's figures read well. The averages are as follow -._ / ■ - ■■ Batting. ;. v:. -. .

N. Grifflths, 24.75; D. O. Wliyte (Wellin" ton), 23.20; C. G. Wilson, 23.87; 1! 51 I'liT ip 5,23.14; W. Borrows, 22.83; D. Burt 22 71 • 11. Nunn, 22.C0; J. E. Banks, 22"43- X II uidson, 20.44; R. Cox, 20.37; J.-A. •Not out. -Wellington representative. The batting averages of the Wellington team not shown in the abov e li«t are as follow : —H. R. White 18 75 K. James 14.14, W. S. Brice 15.33/ arid M. Henderson 15.75. ■ Bowling.

11. Nunu, 20.00; G. tusk, 22.00; tJ. S Uiddleston, 22.94; 15. W. Smyrk, 23.43; W S ISarday, 23.07; J. A. Malcolm, 23.88 X AN mao, 27.00; Morton, 30.25; A. Duncan 30 2a-I N. Griffiths, 45.00; J. 1!. Banks, 48.80; U Foley, 50.00; J. llutchings, 57.00. representative. FINE PERFORMANCE. "Enthusiast" writes as follows: "Playing in the Boys' League Competitions for the Ngaio Club, F. Marriott, a young player of. 15 years, has this season obtained a phenomenal bowling average, his figures being 47 wickets for. 69 runs.. Through the courtesy of the secretary of the club to which he belongs I have received "a list of his performances. This1 player bowls a medium paced'ball of irreproachable len<rth,,,and at times develops a deadly swerve- and if taken in hand*- by somo experienced" player, I feel sure that he would make an excellent bowler." The figures, which are; as follow, are regarded as something like a record:

■ Umpires' decision accounted lor thirteen of tho Otago wickets, which fell during the recent matches with Canterbury and Auckland, while only four opponents were sent back to the pavilion in that way. Shepherd was decidedly unlucky. In three out of four visits to the crease he found the verdict of the umpire against him. Torrance and Dunning were, not available for the Otago team against \Vel- ! li'nglon. Torrance strained an abdomen muscle while bowling j u t| le match with Auckland, and Dunning, who was a contributor to Cambrook's big scoring performance recently, is aL piessnt on holi- ! day in Auckland. j it is staled that the membership of: the Cnriabruok Club, Dunedin, is largerl lh:iii that of any other club in the JUo- j j minion. , . j

win. Midland 2 ' Hutt .....'....'. 2 Petone r ' • Old Boys 4 0 Y.M.Q.A. 1 Wellington . 1 Institute 0 l'horndon 0 win. Ji. u. 2 '■ 1 • 0 1 :2 0 ' 2 ■•■ 2 ' . 0 3 . 2 0 1 2 1 1 8 0 ,2 !) ■■ 0 S 'O •• 4 J 1 ±■19. 14 1L 10 9 8i 0 15

,■„_■■ .In. K.O. H.S. T. Aver. 1—£• Bardsley 8 3 . 188, 018 133.80 '■tin *.i. T S -■••• 8 2 271 * 4OT 82'ea °—"• "■ Mullarkey 8 1. 140* 420 CO.OO J2-f RatclWe 9 0 119. 433 18.11 1*—A. Puiiclf . 11 2 08 413 15 . 88

.'.'■■' ' ■ wfcts- Runs. 4—A, Punch 25 ' 451 C—S. Everett 25 477 11—A. . Wailey ; ao 8M . Aver. . 1S.04 19.08 28.33

T TT,,t.i- I. N.O.-H.S. R. Avci Hutchings, sen, 5 1 -J17», 255 03.75 tli. J.Kortlang 5 1 si :183 40.75 +n r' c?m 8-107 . 300 37.50 If.- <j- ,C"!nS 9 - 39 200 82.8S ■tJ. S. Uicldlestou ... » - "J t . °lV' yi ,■•••••—■•■•■•• '7 -2 "67* 150 K3.20 J. A Malcolm :...'7 3 42* 122 S0.S0 r. Nelson 7 j ;7e m 3Q](; til. \\atEon 7-77 l!)S 2K.20 a. uuncan . ..;...; 8 — 01 "?(; 9ft or, tC. S. Dempster ...7.-, W 179 25.57 w.' k111^". -." B ] 61 127 25.-S0 "• il- otamto^l 7 2 3 126 25.20

?-H. Tucker.'. „.;,*£■: ™*«'- ij. Jicara 21)5 9h m r>> til. M. M'Uirr .... $ ■ n J?^ k &°!;.;:::---v- jg • »;.■ jjjo tD^cf'^ito"::::::::::- i? g jf" t»I. _ Henderson «8 30 n'93 +K. Jt. Wnite 410 °? ??■„ til Watson :„. 307 £ ■ ]^ !} r\C-' Corner .; 232 15 15 i6 J. Kodgars ., 12a <i ' ir io tV S. Briie k 2 ? «g J. D. Good 170 in i7nn W, A Aldersley jjs n S£ 1). Patrick 282 in 17 r9 B. K. Leggatt 314 w "'.4° A- J- Hyder 235 33 18.07 B. S. MaBsey 311 16 , 19.43 J. A. Bruce 175 9 ' 19 u

Ajrainst , Overs. ]V Institute D ..: 3 Central Mission ... ,7.5 Central Mission ... ..4 Marist N. ..'■ 4 Marist N. 3 Marist.O.B 5 Institute O 6 Institute G ■. 5 Stop Out 7 Khandallah ..., 6.4 Khandallah ....'..... '5 tatitutc D 10 Mdns: ] 1 2 2 1 3 2 4 4 3 4 4 , 6 Runs. 3 10 7 7 0 8 5 1 12 3 4 6 Totals 65.9 36 69 a: Average, 1.46.